A Whale off Middleton Whilst Surfing

Middleton Beach, South Australia

Gray on gray August day
green water wedges of winter swell
lines of energy from the far south
alone with the elemental sea

Rolling with the lazy swell metres away
me propped unwieldy on a board
an ancient eye peers from under heavy lids
the shape blurred barnacles of splattered stucco

The searching eye
cool curiosity
detached knowledge
rolling to one side to alter the view
then the
cold green water parts respectfully,
gone from the view.

To grasp the journey
the vast greatness of it
a force so ancient
insistence beyond imagination
within the ancient eye.
And me.

Cameron Grover is a recently retired English teacher. Writing poetry for as long as he can remember, lately he has been revisiting older poems as well as developing new ones and song lyrics. A keen surfer and surf traveller, follower of contemporary politics and world affairs, music lover and reader of a wide range of literature, he endeavours to reflect in his poems ‘our bonds with nature, and how past experience shapes our beliefs and understanding of the world, ourselves and others.’

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.